Saturday, June 26, 2010

Once again, the day has come to an end... without enough hours in it as usual!

Since I will not be able to take this Monday off work to paint, I have been trying to fit as much "art" into today as humanly possible... it has been pretty productive but I am exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open...

In an earlier blog (A Late Night Post), I posted a sketch of a "butterfly woman" mandala from my sketch book that was inspired by Kelly's Rae's course... This is what I have been working on today and thought I'd give you a glimpse of what she is starting to look like... I hope you like her! :)

Acrylic Ink on Canvas

16"x 20" x 1.25"

So there she is so far, I can't wait to start adding the colour! I would love to do it right now but I have a feeling I would fall asleep on the canvas! I've already spilled a tray of black ink on my new carpet because of my tired, klutziness! Don't worry, I got it out... gotta love those Oxy cleaning products! You can't even tell it was there :)

I will post another update on this piece before it is finished to keep you up to date but for now, have a great night everyone!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Today was "painting day" and I managed to get 2 paintings started, re-sized a few new photos to publish and collected some reference for my butterfly mandala. I also took a nice break outside for an hour long walk to enjoy the sunshine. I really loved having the whole day to myself, save for a little visitor that came to see me this afternoon while waiting for paint to dry...

It was a little blue eyed kitty that crawled under my patio fence to check out my flowers...

...and decided to come over to the window for a wee visit :)

"Purrr"...sooo cute, nice of her to pop over and break up my day!

Yet another summer solstice has come to and end and for me it was the shortest "longest day of the year" ever! I feel like I have so much more to do but I am exhausted and ready to call it a night!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Summer Solstice and had some nice weather to go along with it!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

I cannot believe that this day already over! (and a new one beginning for that matter!) I spent the day getting some necessary odds and ends for my studio, visiting some new favourite blogs and taking a few photos. Among the things I bought for my studio today, a 4ft long cork board so I can post my reference material above my table instead of on it (maybe my drawing table will have less clutter - probably not!). I also bought a dry erase/magnetic board to hang above my computer so I can write down all the many things I have/want to do and ideas that are floating through my mind. Yay for organization! I'm loving my little studio more and more everyday!

In the midst of working and trying to balance the details of everyday life, I have still found time to create and paint! I can't wait until Monday when I have the whole day to myself, uninterrupted to just make art. I really value those Mondays now that I am able to have them, they are fantastic and I can't imagine spending them any other way. Little by little I am completing bits and pieces of various projects during my spare hours after work. Last night around one in the morning, I decided that I needed to get an idea out of my head and start sketching. I was inspired by Kelly Rae's Course that I am taking and felt the need to depict a representation of the transformation taking place with all that I have learned so far. Very exciting and I can't wait to get started on it. Of course it had to involve "wings" so the obvious choice was a butterfly! (A Black Swallowtail butterfly - love the colours!) Here it is in my sketch book, it needs work, especially the figure but not too bad for tired, squinty eyes! ;)

This is another project I had been working on (6x8, acrylic ink). I am still debating what to do with it next, whether or not to add some colour. Originally, my intention was to paint it just black with the only colour being the background showing through. I haven't done that with any other piece, I just can't seem to resist the urge to pop some other colour in there! Time to walk away from it for now and have a look a little later on with some fresh eyes...

The highlight of this week for me has been my first sale! I credit this to the fact that I have been posting projects online and on my Facebook page. As time consuming and sometimes frustrating as all this online work is, I can see how it is definitely worth while. Hopefully this is just a preview of things to come. I can't wait to see where all this work and little baby steps are going to take me a year from now. As for this past week, selling my first painting (below) felt pretty good and it is wonderful knowing that my painting now belongs to a good home with someone who loves it as much as I do! :)

New and Improved
The little girl was sitting in her grandfather's lap as he read her a story. From time to time, she would take her eye's off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. By and by she was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.

Finally she spoke, "Granddaddy, did God make you?"
"Yes, sweetheart" he answered, "God made me a long time ago."
"Oh she said," then "Granddaddy, did God make me too?"
"Yes, indeed honey" he assured her. "God made you just a little while ago."
"Oh" she said. Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, "God's getting better at it now isn't he?"

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's and Grandpa's out there! Have a fantastic day! :)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Today has been rather productive! I cleaned my entire house, did 4 loads of laundry and watered my plants... all 20 of them! :) Such fun times! I can hardly contain myself...

No, but seriously, it was my "painting day" and I ended up finishing my little mandala I started from my last blog entry. I am not as satisfied with it as I was my last couple of paintings. I think it turned out a bit too dark but it is done! I won't work on anything that small again for a while! It's tedious and I am not able to show as much detail as I would like. Mandala's are supposed to be meditative after all and I found myself a little frustrated with this one...

As well, Kelly's class today was good as usual, lots of good info and the comments from the rest of the class are fantastic, lot's of answers to my questions there! I am loving it still and I can't believe there are 3 more weeks to go! Wow! Talk about getting your money's worth and a tonne more...
I am pooped (yes, it's only 9:30), when did I get so old! I am going to go and put the kettle on and make some tea, put my feet up and watch some tv.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

It's been a little while since I last blogged, it feels like so much has happened! Over the past 2 weeks I have been taking an e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts called Taking Flight and I feel like I haven't had time to create or write at all (except for note taking). There has been so much information to take in and I'm so glad I decided to enroll. She has been incredibly encouraging, personable and inspiring as well as my fellow classmates!

In the past 2 weeks I have set up a facebook page for White Violet Art, changed my twitter to match and discovered that I actually have a "follower" on my blog (yay, I'm not talking to myself anymore! Thanks Diane!) We all have to start somewhere right? As well my facebook page has grown to 32 fans in the last 5 days and a friend has asked me to create a 5'x5' mandala for their living room. That is a project I am looking forward to as I know I will learn a great deal. I haven't created anything that size before, the largest piece being 2'x3' so it should be very interesting/challenging!

I have also been able to make a commitment to my art by taking Mondays off work and dedicating that time to just creating art, whether it be painting, drawing or working on my blog and updating my facebook page. It feels great to be able to do that and still be able to support myself. I feel very fortunate!

Today, I decided to "listen" to today's lesson via the "speech" service on my mac and actually get some painting done! I have a small canvas that I am creating a mandala on just for the sake of creating something and getting the creative juices flowing. I have been feeling strange not creating anything, so many ideas but not enough time...
This is what this new mandala looks like so far this morning:

I want to finish this post off with a bit of inspiration/words to live by that I found in a book called "Art As A Way of Life" by Roderick MacIver. I'm going to post this on my wall in my studio for those times when I need the extra encouragement!

"The Ten Commandments on Seeing/Drawing"

1. You shall draw everything and every day.
2. You shall not wait for inspiration, for it comes not while you wait, but while you work.
3. You shall not forget all you think you know and even more, all you have been taught.
4. You shall not adore your good drawings and promptly forget your bad ones.
5. You shall not draw with exhibitions in mind, nor to please any critic but yourself.
6. You shall trust none but your own eye and make your hand follow it.
7. You shall consider the mouse you draw as more important than the contents of all of the museums in the world, for
8. You shall love the ten thousand things with all your heart and a blade of grass as yourself.
9. Let each drawing be your first: A celebration of the eye awakened.
10. You shall not worry about "being of your time" for you are your time and it is brief.

I'm so glad that I decided to take today off and work on some of my paintings! This is what I've been working on for the last couple of hours. I thought I'd post a pic before I did the final inking. I will post another pic when I am finished. So far so good though! I am loving them! :)

About Me

I am a visual artist currently residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
I draw, paint and occasionally dabble in jewelery design but currently I enjoy creating mandalas with a variety of media on pretty well any surface I can find! ;)
I look forward to sharing the products of my creative journey with you!